The Buffalo Sabres hit a new low on Tuesday and now find themselves last in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres lost 6-1 to the Montreal Canadiens and have gone winless in 11 games (0-8-3). With the victory, the Canadiens leapfrogged the Sabres in the standings, pushing Buffalo to the conference’s basement.
“Yeah, sure does suck, doesn’t it? It’s horrible,” forward Alex Tuch said, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. “The season’s not over. We’re gonna come back and be better tomorrow.”
Sabres owner Terry Pegula flew to Montreal to meet with the team on Monday amid the current slide. The message, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, was “to stick together and solve the issue as a group.”
The start of Tuesday’s game quickly unravelled that plan.
Montreal jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Sabres had even registered a shot. Then, after the Sabres pulled within 2-1 early in the second, the Canadiens scored four more times before intermission to put the game well out of reach.
“Our puck play, again, early in the game, it really hurt us,” head coach Lindy Ruff said of the slow start. “You get a tough break going the other way and all of sudden we gave them energy and I think that fuelled them right off the bat. Which didn’t allow us to get really into our game.”
The Sabres last won on Nov. 23 against the Sharks and now head home to face the Maple Leafs on Friday. Will there be changes in the two days before that? Only time will tell.
“I think we talk about how it’s in this room and that’s what we believe. We just need more from each and every guy,” defenceman Connor Clifton said, according to Harrington. “Every part of our game right now needs more. We’re just not playing together. We’re all over the place.”
